30 December 2011

Quadrantid Meteor Shower 2012 - peaks January 3-4

The annual Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks on January 3rd and 4th, with the possibility to deliver a great show for viewers across North America. The Moon will interfere in the early stages of viewing, but despite that, the shower should be a good one.

Meteor showers typically are strongest after midnight, when the Earth's 'front face' is moving directly into the meteor stream as the Earth moves in its orbit around the Sun. In addition, many meteor showers have a peak where the meteor stream is strongest. This year, North America is well positioned for the Quadrantid peak. For those of us on the west coast of the US, the peak should start around 11:00 pm on Tuesday January 3rd, and continue into the morning hours of Wednesday the 4th. You can read more about the meteor shower peak in an excellent article from the American Meteor Society. The Quadrantid 'radiant' is near the handle of the Big Dipper, which will be high in the sky in the morning hours.

Viewing the shower is easy. From 11:00 pm until 2:00 am (west coast time), face east as the radiant rises and climbs into the night sky. Later in the night, after 2:00 am, the Moon will be low and then set, and the best view will be directly overhead, ideally lying on your back in a dark location with a sleeping bag and warm clothing - it will be cold! In San Francisco, I find that I can see many meteor showers from my own backyard, despite being in a big city. The two important things to do are (a) find a location where streetlights and houselights are not shining in your eyes, and (b) allow for 10-15 minutes to fully dark-adapt to the night sky, and then you can expect to see meteors. If you just look outside for 1 or 2 minutes and don't see any, you should not be surprised. Meteor viewing requires patience and a little bit of planning. But the investment of time is worth it, because meteors are such beautiful cosmic things. I wish you clear skies and good viewing!

10 comments:

For viewing, I recommend a trip down the coast - The junction of Hwy 35 and Hwy 92 is a great spot to see the sky, and of course all the way at the end Hwy 92 in Half Moon Bay... I'm heading down to the end of Kelly Ave at the coast to check em out - last night the sky was clear, hoping it stays free of fog!

Hello Anonymous - for the early part of the Meteor Shower, facing east in San Francisco will be a challenge. Ocean Beach will be better than most places, since the skies are generally darker, and as the night goes on, and city lights start to diminish, it will be even better. Good luck with that, and tell me what you see!

Wow--on my way to moving to SF tomorrow and staying in HMB tonight. Planning on viewing at Roosevelt Beach, very clear right now but seems like it could get foggy--where do sf people go for dark clear skies normally? Also, NASA release says peak after 3am but I'm guessing that's due to the moon being up?

That makes sense, but the papers read this way:"...the Quadrantids shower will nonetheless offer up "excellent meteor observing" from about 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. local time (regardless of the time zone you're in), according to NASA."--LA TimesThe others seems to just say 'local time' without any reference. Strange how journalism works these days.

Hi, it's me again, from the East coast. I decided to step outside one more time... In about 10 minutes I saw 3 meteors: one was south of the Booties, another - north of the Booties and east of the Big Deeper, and the third one - west of the Big Deeper. I think it is just impossible to see all 100-120 meteors in an hour. Now I can go to sleep.

hi there Anon: I deleted your previous message, but I can understand that the reality does not always live up to the hype, when it comes to meteor showers. In fact, I've never seen 100-200 per hour ever. But keep trying -- friends have told me that they have indeed seen such 'storms' and I would imagine it to be a pretty extraordinary experience!

It's good you at least saw a few. My report from San Francisco is next!

4:30 am - some fog rolled into western San Francisco, diminishing the view of all but the brightest meteors. But for fleeting moments, as the fog passed, I would see two or three in a row, a bright one traveling south, then a fainter one traveling west, then a very faint one moving the wrong direction. But hey, for a 30-minute viewing session, I saw about 8 total between periods of fog. Next time I might just have to drive somewhere, but it sure was warm in my sleeping bag in my own back yard.

About Me

In 2005 I began writing a column for the San Francisco Waldorf School newsletter called "The Urban Astronomer." I started this blog in 2007 as a place to archive my articles and to offer additional insights on the night sky - even if you live in a big city. In 2008 I became an occasional guest on the KFOG Morning Show, and more recently on KALW and KGO. Archived shows are posted on the blog.